Rise of Wrath
by adarkworldfantasy
Summary: After the events of Deep Ground had calmed down, Vincent had hoped that it would been the end of dark legacies reemerging from the past. Now, Vincent is about to find out that this is not the case and he's about to face another foe. This time however, Cid gets caught in the crossfire.
1. Prologue

_Caged inside the core of fire,  
cultivating impurity,  
the dissentient of Chaos._

Omega's chain to the luminous body,  
the binding claws to the lifestream.

Beware the menace of Wrath,  
that cloaks himself in shadows  
as he rises from the cage.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~  
_[ μ ] – εуλ 1911_

"Yet another disappointment," spoke the dismal voice of the scientist as he looked through the observation window.

Dark blood coated the room like an obscene paint job, dripping thickly from the ceiling and table, draining down the window in a eerie fashion. Smoldering remnants of what was once a body was visible on the steel apparatus that had been anchored into the cement floor, splinters of bone and flesh chunked around the buckles that once held the specimen in place.

One of the other scientists walked up the senior scientist, after he had finished emptying the contents of his stomach into the toilet in the next room. "Sir...forgive me...but this has been the sixteenth attempt. Don't you think that we should stop-"

"No," the dark-haired man answered in the same nonchalant tone as he had before. "We have come this far, and we have found some improvements. We just need to find the right specimen. More so one that will not combust as these last ones have." There was a roll of his chocolate-coloured eyes, followed by a sigh that held a hint of aggravation within it. He turned and stepped back to the desk and grabbed the open folder and jotted down some more notes on the charts, writing in large letters at the bottom; "FAILURE" He dropped the folder back onto the desk and closed it.

"Viktor, please," the other scientist insisted as he stepped closer to him to look him in the eyes, "obviously we do not have the technology to continue with these experiments. We can't keep going like this."

Victor snorted and tilted his head at him, an eerie calm about him. "My dear apprentice, real scientists do not give up on their endeavors once they have started. We are not stopping now." His wicked smile once again appeared on his face and he patted the man on the shoulder. "Do not worry. We will find a way."

Victor turned and stepped to the large steel door and punched the code to the door on the panel off to the side of it. It beeped and the screeching of metal filled the room as the large metallic doors slid open. Inside the room was a large containment capsule. He walked up to the capsule and smirked as he watched the oily black and yellow substance twist and swirl angrily inside. "We will find a way yet. No fear."

The young scientist stepped inside cautiously, eying the dark substance swirling around in the capsule, as if it was a trapped tornado. He looked at the glass and saw more cracks in the six-inch-thick glass. He shook his head warily as he looked at it, hand raising to touch the glass lightly. "I can't believe we're going to have to reinforce this again."

Viktor chuckled happily as he continued to watch the substance squirm. "He most definitely is a lively one now, isn't he, Kaine?"

The scientist turned to look at him, seeing the look in Vicktor's eyes as he watched the dark swirl inside the capsule. Green eyes slowly turned back to look at the capsule once more, feeling goosebumps building on his skin. He broke out into another nervous sweat, as he always did when he came into this room. "Why do you want to do this so badly?" he quietly asked.

Viktor only smiled. "Because we have the power to do it, so why not?. And we will do this, no matter what the cost."

The oily substance swirled even faster inside the tube and smashed into the glass once more. Viktor raised an eyebrow but only smirked once more. "Kaine, go get maintenance. Get them to reinforce the glass once more." The substance smashed into the glass once more, a distinct sound of crackling glass coming from it. "Better hurry," he added with a chuckle.

The scientist quickly left the room and got on the phone, screaming at them to get their asses into the basement as soon as possible to repair the capsule once more.

Viktor only laughed at the young man's fear of the creature. He would have to learn to suppress that fear as they continued with the experiments. "Be silent. old one," he spoke to the thing in the capsule as he set his hand on it, "one of these days we will find you a suitable host." He smiled as the substance smashed into the glass where the man's hand was. He chuckled and turned to leave the room, pressing the button to shut the doors behind him.

All that echoed in the sealed room was that of a enraged roar of the creature, shaking the room to it's very core.


	2. Chapter 1

_Present Day..._

"SON OF A MOTHER HUMPIN' BITCH, THAT HURT!" screeched Cid painfully. He flung the wrench in his hand at the wall of the shop, the tool colliding with loud smash, while Cid cursed even more as he shook his hand. After a moment he grasped at his injured hand and applied pressure to where he had gotten it slammed in the hood of the engine when it fell from it's prop.

"Well that was most certainly the oddest curse I have heard from you yet," a deep voice echoed through the building.

Blue eyes quickly scanned their way to the voice and he saw Vincent standing in the doorway of the shop, arms crossed and leaning against the door frame. "Yeah, well you would'a barked too if ya got yer hand smashed in that," he answered curtly as he nodded to the engine of the small ship.

Vincent snorted softly. "Well hopefully it was your middle finger. By listening to comments from your other assistants, and many others for that matter, I am sure they would be happy to not be seeing that specific one being waved at them anymore," he replied, a small smirk tugging at the corner of his thin lips.

Cid snorted as well, though smirked at the attempt at humour. "Bite me, Valentine," he barked in a playful tone. He leaned back against the front of the ship and looked at his hand, there was a gash across his knuckle and some bruising starting to appear.

Vincent continued to look up at him from the ground for a few moments. Deciding he had better see how badly the pilot was injured, he made his way up to the ladder to the scaffold and to the captain. "How bad is it?" he asked him. He took Cid's hand and looked it over, also spotting the bruising that was developing.

"Ah, it's alright," the pilot said as he took his hand back. He flexed his hand, clenching his fist a couple times and grumbled at some pain that shot through his wrist and arm. "Don't think it's broken."

"Do you think you may need to bandage it? Or perhaps use a materia?"

"Nah. I'll just take advantage of this and have a smoke break," he said, smirking at the man. He pat Vincent on the shoulder and started his way down the ladder. "I'm done with this beast fer now anyway. Do ya want ta come have some tea?" he offered to him. He jumped off the ladder once he reached the fourth bottom step. He had just been turning around to proceed out the building when he jumped back with surprise as he almost collided with the dark-haired gunman. He cocked an eyebrow at him and looked up to where he had last been and then back to Vincent. "How the fuck do ya...ah, never mind...keep fergettin' just how silent you can be at times."

Vincent only chuckled quietly and turned on his heel to walk out of the building. "Tea sounds fine, Cid."

Cid just smirked and shook his head as he followed the man out of the shop and closed the door. They made their way to the house on the hill. Cid was surprised to see that the the sun was already quite low in the sky. He didn't realize he had been in the shop that long.

"Any specific tea that you would prefer?" Vincent asked as he climbed the first few steps onto the deck.

"Whatever yer heart desires, Vince," he answered, smirking at the look he received from Vincent.

Vincent just shook his head, though the slight twitch of a smirk was on his face as he walked into the house. Cid had meanwhile taken a seat on the deck of the house and lit up a smoke and stared out into the distance. The red sun was setting in the distance, lighting the clouds in an array of colours that ranged from a bright red to a dark purple. Trees seemed to glow a bright green colour as the last rays of sunlight bounced off them. There was only a gentle breeze tonight, carrying with it the scent of the river nearby. It was an evening much like this that Vincent had first arrived at his house.

It had been just over a month since Vincent had reappeared once more. It had been nearly two weeks after the incident with Deep Ground happened and no one had heard from the gunslinger. It sickened Cid with worry when he had seen that explosion in the sky as Chaos had collided with Omega, seemingly destroying them both. Cid had watched the sky for an unknown amount of time, waiting to see the winged creature once more that he had seen in battle. When he hadn't, it had left him to wonder if Vincent had truly perished in the battle. But late one night, on one such as this, he had been sitting out on the deck having a cigarette when he caught the small flicker of red walking out of the forest. There were no words to describe just how relieved and happy he was to see the man once more. Vincent had arrived worn out, disheveled and looked somewhat starved and Cid immediately took him in, irregardless of the man's objections. There was no way he was letting the man get out of his sight after all that had happened.

Now it was just him and Vincent. Shera had moved out not long after the Deep Ground incident, as she had been dating a man for a while and was now living with him. She still worked with Cid on the odd project here and there, though it was not as much as before. The silence of the house had bothered Cid to a degree, but with Vincent around, it didn't seem to bother him as much. Cid was always a people person and liked having someone around to chat with; even if said person of whom he was talking to was not someone who talked much themselves. It seemed to work though; Cid talked and Vincent listened. So, they made a good team.

"Here you are," spoke the familiar voice once more.

Cid smiled as a cup of tea was set down on the table beside him, "Ah thanks Vince," he said happily as he picked it up with his good hand.

"You're welcome," Vincent answered as he took his seat on the other side of the table. "How much more do you have to go on the ship before you're done?"

"Not too much really. Just gotta replace the alternators and some wiring. Some fuses can probably be changed as well. Other than that, that's it," he said as he sipped his tea.

"You should let your hand rest then."

Cid chuckled then answered, "Yes sir."

Vincent snorted quietly at his answer. "Are you hungry yet? You haven't had anything since this morning."

As if on cue, the pilot's stomach growled, bringing forth an embarrassed chuckle from the blonde man. "I'm thinkin' yes. Come on, I'll go fix us somethin'."

He butted out the spent cigarette on the bottom of his boot and tossed it to the ground then picked up his cup of tea and proceeded in the house. Vincent stood up from his seat and stepped over to the door. He paused for a moment, eyes shifting to look back to the thick forest. His eyes squinted as he tried to see if there was anything out of the ordinary, but he saw nothing. Deciding it was his own paranoia getting to him, he ignored the feeling of being watched and followed the man inside, shutting the door quietly behind him.

The man chuckled in a dark tone as the images were transmitted to his hard drive and being displayed on the large screen in front of him, each showing the two men sitting on the deck of a small house. The man smirked as he looked at the photos, eyes specifically trained on the one. "Ah yes, this should do quite nicely..."


	3. Chapter 2

_One Week Later..._

It was in the evening and the cool breeze blew through the trees, making the leaves dance as they fell to the ground. It was much cooler than it had been in the past few days. Though that was not the cause of the hair standing up on the back of Vincent's neck.

The dark-haired gunslinger was standing on the deck of the house, arms crossed and leaning against the railing of the deck. Observant red eyes scanned the over the forest, same as he had been doing for the past week. He didn't know what it was, but there was something out there that just didn't sit well with him. Something was not...right. He had even went as far to spend hours wandering through the forest to see if he could find traces of something or someone out there, but whatever it was it was good at hiding it's trail. That is if there was a trail to hide, he didn't know. And that is what bothered him most of all

"Vince, why have ya been mopin' around here lately? Somethin' botherin' ya?"

Vincent looked over from where he was standing to see the grufff pilot step out of the house, cigarette dangling from his lips. "No Cid, I'm fine. Nothing is wrong, thank you," he answered before returning his eyes to the tree line.

"What'd'ya mean nothin's wrong? You've been staring at that forest every night fer the past week," he reminded him. He walked up to the railing and leaned against it as he looked at the man, trying to get a read off him.

"It's nothing that I want to bother you with Cid," he said with a faint smile, momentarily taking his attention away from the forest.

Cid snorted and shook his head and turned to face him, still leaning against the railing. "Ya know Vince, you can tell me whatever's on yer mind. We've been livin' together fer, what, almost two months now? I'd've hoped I'd earned yer trust fer ya ta tell me when somethin's on yer mind. Or am I wrong?"

After a quick pause, Vincent nodded. "Yes Cid, I do trust you and I apologize." He snickered quietly and looked back out at the forest. "Sometimes I wonder how you put up with me."

Cid smirked and kicked him lightly in the leg, "'Cause yer cute and adorable, claws and all."

Vincent laughed and looked back to him. "Very cute Cid."

"Of course yer very cute," he teased him once more as he looked back at him. He and Vincent often did this back and forth, teasing one another with comments, though nothing came of it. Cid didn't realize just how much inner strength it took to keep himself from telling the man what he really thought of him, but he soon found out when he told Vincent to move in with him. Every day seemed to be a battle for him to keep his mouth shut that way. "But all that aside Vince, what's on yer mind?"

Vincent shrugged, a sigh escaping him as well. "In all honesty, I am not sure myself Cid. Something has had me on edge as of late, but I am not certain of the cause."

Cid's brows furrowed together as he listened to this. He shifted a bit where he stood. "What? Was it somethin' I said or did?" he asked, thinking that could be one of the reasons.

Vincent shook his head immediately. "No Cid, that's not it at all," he reassured him as he patted the man's shoulder. "I just feel like," he started as he looked out to the forest again and shook his head, "I have to keep looking over my shoulder. Like something's watching."

"Oh?" Cid asked, a bit taken back. His eyes shifted around to look through the yard and then back to Vincent. "Like...right now?"

Vincent shook his head after a moment. "Somewhat, but it doesn't feel as threatening. I just have this feeling that I have to be on guard about something."

Cid was quiet for a moment before exhaling deeply. "Well, guess it's a good thing I have my number one sniper livin' here then, hu?" he said, smirking as he slapped him lightly on the back. He took another drag from the cigarette and flicked the ashes off the end. "Well, I gotta run ta the shop in town and grab a few parts. Fergot 'em there when I left today."

"Would it not be easier to have just one shop Cid? That way you wouldn't be doing all this running back and forth?"

"Yeah, but that'd be too easy then, wouldn't it?" he replied, smirking once more at him.

Vincent chuckled and added, "And smart."

"Fight nice Vince," he said and gave him a quick wink. He patted the man once more on the shoulder and stepped past him and proceeded down the steps of the house. "I should be back in a hour." He walked to the truck that was parked out front and hopped inside the cab. He fired up the vehicle and leaned out the window and called to him, "Anythin' ya want from town?" Vincent shook his head and that was answer enough for Cid. Cid waved to him and began his way back to town.

Vincent took one last look at the forest beyond the yard site, trying to spot any movement or anything out of the ordinary. When nothing caught his eye, he turned and walked back into the house.

The vigilant eyes of the soldier, that sat deep in the forest, zoomed in with the binoculars he had in his hand. He observed the two quietly until the blonde man left. He waited until the truck started through the cut line in the trees and the dark haired man returned into the house before he grabbed the radio that was hooked on his belt. He held it in front of his mouth before speaking "Coast is clear. Begin operation."


	4. Chapter 3

"Where the fuck did I put that damned thing?" Cid grumbled to himself as he searched through the fifth tool box. He huffed then slammed it shut when he realized it was not there either. "Maybe I should listen ta Vince and just have one shop." He set his hands on his hips and scanned around the place as he tried to retrace his steps. Just how the hell were S-hook straps that hard to find in a shop?

Finally he tossed his hands into the air in defeat and declared, "Fuck it! I'll buy some more. Not like I won't use 'em." He went and grabbed the other tool box he needed and hauled it out to the truck and set them in the back. He got inside the vehicle and flipped open his phone and dialing Vincent's number.

Vincent had been cleaning up a few things in the house that needed to be done, knowing that the pilot would most likely not get around to doing. Vincent wondered how the hell the pilot had managed to keep the house clean before he got there, though he remembered that Shera spent the greater amount of time doing that while Cid was working in the shop. And seeing as how Cid had been kind enough to let him share his home, the least that he could do was clean up what clutter he could. As long as he didn't accidentally put something in a place that it should apparently not be, which would inevitably trigger a rage fit from the pilot when Cid couldn't find something that had been 'right there!' before Vincent decided to clean. H

Vincent's phone, that was sitting on the end of the counter in the kitchen that he had been cleaning, started to ring. Stopping the duties he had been doing at the moment, he went to pick up the phone and held it to his ear. "Hello?"

"Hey Vince, mind doin' me a favor?" Cid asked as he started up the truck.

"What would that be?"

"Mind lookin' in the shop and seein' if I've got enough transmission fluid? I gotta pick up some more straps, so I figured I'd pick that up too if I was runnin' low."

Vincent nodded, "Alright, just a moment." He held the phone against his ear as he made his way out of the house and down the steps. "Anything else I should look for while I'm in there?" he inquired.

Cid was pulling a cigarette out of his pack when he answered, "Nah, just see if I have enough o' that," he continued as he leaned back against the seat, "and-"

Cid's sentence was cut off when a loud crack echoed through the air and startled Cid as the windshield of his truck shattered, leaving a nice small hole through the glass.

Vincent froze in mid-step as he heard the familiar sound of a gunshot on the other end of the line. "Cid?" he asked, eyes wide with a mix of confusion and worry.

Cid was pressed against the seat of the truck, arms up to shield his face from the glass that had sprayed through the interior. He finally opened his eyes to look at the damage done. "What the fuck," he muttered quietly with an underlying tone of terror. He leaned forward and looked around outside, trying to see if it was what he really thought it had been. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw three people walk out of the woods, dressed in what he thought were soldier uniforms, not fifty feet from the shop. "Son of a bitch," he cursed before ducking once more when he saw the guns being raised.

A rain of machine gun fire pelted the truck, piercing holes in the metal and shattering out the rest of the windshield.

"Cid!" Vincent screamed into the phone as he heard the commotion. "Answer me!"

Doing the only thing he could, Cid reached up and put the truck into reverse and smashed his foot down on the gas. The tires roared as they spun out in the dirt parking lot and jolted the truck backwards, creating a whirlwind of dust and stones. He quickly threw it into first gear and turned the steering wheel and drove blindly out onto the road before he sat up when he felt it was safe. His heart thundered in his chest as he hastily switched gears and sped down the highway, the angry screams of grinding gears echoing through the air.

Vincent stood in shock as he listened to the tumultuous noises on the other end. "Cid, what's happening? Who's shooting at you?" he spoke urgently as he started trekking down the driveway.

Cid heard the sound of Vincent's voice and looked down to see the phone sitting on the seat. He quickly picked it up as he flew down the highway at dangerous speeds. "I don't have a fuckin' clue!" he yelled back to him over the screaming of the engine and the pulsing in his ears. "These...people, soldiers er somethin', just walked out of the woods and started firin'!" Blue eyes flickered to the rear view mirrors to see if he could spot anything coming after him.

Though within that quick diversion of his attention from the road, he did not notice the large camouflage army vehicle darting out onto the highway, intent on smashing into the truck and forcing Cid off the road.

The pilot was thrown wildly around the cab of the truck as it flew through the air and into the ditch. Windows crackled and splintered and metal bowed and caved as the vehicle tumbled and rolled through the ditch, pieces flying through the air and littering the ground behind it before the vehicle came to an abrupt stop on it's rooftop as the machine collided with a large pine tree.

The loud noises echoed through the earpiece of Vincent's phone, each crunch and screech making Vincent's gut clench even more. He dropped the phone to the ground as panic flooded heavily through his veins. A flurry or red and black vapour surrounded the gunman and smoldered for a few seconds before the large wings of Chaos flared and he lifted into the air, going in search of his friend.

The army vehicle quickly cruised over the highway and into the ditch on the other side. Back doors of the vehicle flew open and four soldiers poured out and rushed to the vehicle.

"Break the door off," spoke a gruff voice of one of the soldiers as he looked inside the ruined cab at the target inside. Cid was stretched on his stomach on the roof of the truck, blood seeping from the wounds on his face and into the upholstery and shards of glass that lay around him.

A middle-aged man, dressing in a dark suit, sat silently in the van. He smiled wickedly to himself as bright brown eyes watched his henchmen retrieve the man from the truck. Once the door was ripped off, two of the soldiers loaded the unconscious blonde into the back of the van, strapping him down to the gurney while another went about injecting him with a serum to keep him asleep. The man continued to smile as he looked the sedated man. He reached out with his hand to turn the sleeping man's face towards him. "Yes, you will do perfectly."

The remaining soldiers were meanwhile splashing the wrecked truck with gasoline, coating it heavily and dropping the empty cans in the cab. Once that was done they scrambled into the back of the van and quickly started off down the road. The soldier standing at the back of the van held the door open as he aimed the grenade launcher and pulled the trigger. The truck exploded violently in a large flurry of flames and smoke, the raging flames sounding like that of a ravenous tiger. The door quickly shut to the van and it flew down the highway and started down one of the back roads.

Chaos flew quickly through the area that Cid usually traveled in order to get to the shop, but saw nothing. That was until he saw, and heard, the loud explosion far out in the distance. With a loud growl and a heavy snap of the leathery wings, he darted towards the commotion.

He swooped down at the sight of the crash, amber eyes wide with fury and worry. He flapped his wings at the vehicle, the heavy down-draft forcing down the flames a bit. His eyes scanned through the vehicle but found no body. He quickly searched around the area in the event that Cid had been launched from the truck, but once again came up with nothing. All he could see was smoke, flames, and the marks of tires on the highway. He rose up into the air, frantically looking around to see what else he could find, but once again nothing stood out.

"Cid..."


End file.
